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Boston College

(Encyclopedia)Boston College, main campus at Chestnut Hill, Mass.; coeducational; Jesuit; est. and opened 1863. Actually a university, the school's Chestnut Hill campus comprises colleges of arts and sciences and b...

precession of the equinoxes

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Precession of the equinoxes (the points at which the earth's celestial equator intersects its ecliptic) is due to the slow rotation of the earth's axis around a perpendicular to the ecliptic. ...

mks system

(Encyclopedia)mks system, system of units of measurement based on the metric system and having the meter of length, the kilogram of mass, and the second of time as its fundamental units. Other mks units include the...

light

(Encyclopedia)light, visible electromagnetic radiation. Of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, the human eye is sensitive to only a tiny part, the part that is called light. The wavelengths of visible light range ...

Jehovah-jireh

(Encyclopedia)Jehovah-jireh jəhōˈvə-jīˈrē [key], in the Bible, Abraham's name for the spot where the angel prevented the sacrifice of Isaac. ...

Clarke, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Clarke, Samuel, 1675–1729, English philosopher and divine. His chief interest was rational theology, and, although a critic of the deists, he was in sympathy with some of their ideas. He supported t...

Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe ro͞od-jāˈrō jo͞ozĕpˈpā bôsˈkōvēch [key], 1711–87, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He became a Jesuit and taught at Rome, Pavia, and Milan. ...

centripetal force and centrifugal force

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Centripetal and centrifugal forces: When a ball is swung in a circle at the end of a string, centripetal and centrifugal forces act as shown above. centripetal force and centrifugal force, act...

Moriah

(Encyclopedia)Moriah mōrīˈə [key], in the Bible, land in which the mountain where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac was located. It has been identified by some with Mt. Moriah. ...

Gerar

(Encyclopedia)Gerar gēˈrär [key], in the Bible, city-state of Canaan, SE of Gaza. Abraham and Isaac sojourned there. Its identification is controversial; the most likely site is Tel Haror. ...